The present invention relates to an observation apparatus for use in an operating room to observe two-dimensional (hereinafter 2-D), three-dimensional (hereinafter 3-D), or both 2-D and 3-D images of endoscopic surgery without requiring the observer to wear special glasses in order to experience 3-D images.
Conventionally, the area to be operated on is imaged onto an image sensor that is positioned within a camera of an endoscope or, during detailed surgery, within a surgical microscope. The image data is then displayed as an enlarged image on an image display device, which can be either a 2-D or a 3-D display device. Surgeons routinely perform surgery while observing such display images.
FIG. 32 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the positional relationship between a surgeon, a patient and an image display device in a conventional operating room. In FIG. 32, 51 is a patient, 52 is an operating table, 53 is the main surgeon performing an operation, 541 to 543 are assistant surgeons, and 55 is an image display device. The operating room 56 is divided into a clean area 56a which is free of bacteria (within the area enclosed by the dashed line) and an unclean area 56b wherein a certain degree of bacterial contamination is allowed (the area surrounding the clean area 56a). The clean area 56a includes a predetermined space surrounding the surgeons 53, and 541 to 543, who perform surgery while standing or sitting at the periphery of the operating table 52 on which the patient 51 is lying. Sterilization procedures are performed on the operating table 52 and other equipment in order to prevent invasion of saprophytic bacteria into the patient 51. The surgeons 53, and 541 to 543 enter into the clean area clothed in operating gowns which have been sterilized and they then perform the surgery.
The image display device 55 includes electronic circuitry and optical members that are nearly impossible to make bacteria-free because they cannot be subjected to sterilization procedures such as high temperature/high pressure sterilization (autoclave) procedures or gamma-ray irradiation sterilization, etc., without damaging the electronic circuitry and the optical members. Therefore, these items must be positioned within the area where bacteria are allowed (i.e., the unclean area). Thus, the main surgeon is required to observe the displayed images from a position that is separated from the actual operating area, the position of the image display device 55 cannot easily be changed, and the surgery is difficult and tiresome because the observation positions are limited. Furthermore, by increasing the size of the image display device 55 in order to achieve easier observation from a distant position, the entire image display device 55 becomes larger, which not only increases the cost of the equipment but also causes the larger image display device to become an obstruction and to unnecessarily consume operating room space, which itself is an expensive commodity.